tudorsfandomcom-20200214-history
Princess Elizabeth Tudor
Princess Elizabeth Tudor is the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She is portrayed by Kate Duggan in Season 2, Claire MacCauley in Season 3 and Laoise Murray in Season 4. She will eventually become Queen Elizabeth I and reign for 44 years. Henry and Anne both loved their daughter dearly (despite hoping she would be a son) but Elizabeth only knew her mother for a short time; Anne met her death before Elizabeth was quite three years old. Anne Boleyn would reappear in a hallucination alongside Elizabeth before Henry's death, saying she was proud of Elizabeth's intelligence and boldness; Henry replied that he was proud of her too, but he avoided her sometimes because she reminded him too much of Anne. Henry declared Elizabeth a bastard (like Mary) after he ended his marriage to Anne and executed her; he cut off the young princess's financial support, claiming that her mother had been a whore and denying that she was his child. However, in episode 3.03 at Christmas, Henry warmly reconciled with the four-year-old Elizabeth at the encouragement of his third queen, Jane Seymour and Elizabeth's sister Mary; she was not made heir to the throne, but like Mary she was restored to the royal line. She also had loving relationships with her later stepmothers Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr; Katherine Howard also liked her, but Elizabeth secretly disliked Katherine as much as Mary did. Elizabeth's personality is not shown to anything of the same degree as her older half-sister Mary, as she is first depicted as a newborn in episode 2.03 and as a little girl in most of Seasons 2 and 3; however, it is clear from Anne Boleyn's intelligence, ambition and boldness (traits that would characterize Elizabeth as Queen) that she takes strongly after her mother, as when she naively states to her sister Mary that she does not think boys should be preferred over girls. In Season 4 when she is entering her early teens, her love of reading, dancing and languages (encouraged by her father, but traits she more likely got from her mother) is shown; she also has something of a mischevous streak, unlike her more religious and graceful elder sister. Henry often looks at her with deep pride, despite her not being his heir to the throne. She is better at concealing her true emotions than Mary, hiding her disdain of Katherine Howard almost perfectly. She is also shown to look after her little brother Edward, and helps teach him Latin. When Catherine Parr becomes Queen consort, she decides to infuse her secretly Lutheran faith in Elizabeth as a tribute to Elizabeth's Protestant mother. Elizabeth would later support her sister Mary in her successful bid for the Crown against Lady Jane Grey, but Mary distrusted Elizabeth because of her Protestantism (like her mother) and removed her from the line of succession, locking her in the Tower. However, when it was clear that Mary would have no children with her Spanish husband and she was on her deathbed, she restored Elizabeth to the line of successsion- setting the stage for Elizabeth's impressive 44-year reign, known as the Golden Age. Season Two Elizabeth is first shown as a newborn infant when she is born at the end of episode 2.03. After her first few weeks in the royal palace she is bestowed with her own estates and staff of nurses to look after her- including her older half-sister, Mary. Henry and Anne visit her often to dote on her; Anne wishes to breastfeed her herself, but Henry forbids it because of a stigma against queens nursing their children, especially daughters. Despite her hatred of Anne and the fact that Elizabeth has usurped her place in the royal line, Mary shows her baby sister nothing but affection in caring for her. As Elizabeth becomes a toddler, she is shown running about frequently; Anne and Henry are unable to spare as much time for her, but Anne always embraces her daughter emotionally when they visit. However, at the end of the season Elizabeth- now nearly three years old- is declared a bastard like Mary and stripped of her royal titles; as one of her lords remarks "The brat is now a bastard" she is shown watching him with frightened eyes, not knowing her mother has been arrested and will soon die. Season Three Elizabeth's role in the third season is somewhat smaller. Her governess petitions Henry to ask for money (as Elizabeth is outgrowing her clothes and no new ones have been provided) but Henry sneeringly remarks that Elizabeth is not his child, as Anne supposedly had relations with many men- though this is untrue. Elizabeth's fortunes soon improve when she and Mary are gifted with a beautiful and kind step-mother, Jane Seymour, who eventually bears Henry the son he has always wanted. Jane and Mary decide to present the four-year-old Elizabeth to her father at Christmas; she arrives at court in episode 3.02 looking extremely frightened. Henry is at first stunned to see her, but he quickly recovers, teasing her in a familiar manner and indicating he will accept her as his daughter again. He then sets her on his lap, kissing her forehead and remarking "Je suis en famille!" to the applause of the court and the delight of Jane and Mary. Elizabeth naively refuses to believe Henry would prefer a boy over her and Mary. Mary shuts this down gently, acting as the benevolent big sister. Appearance Elizabeth is shown as a teenager in the fourth season; she has inherited her father's red hair and oval face, but she has the same piercing eyes and pale complexion as her mother. She also has her mother's intelligence, which rather fortunately for her was greater than Henry's; this allowed her to reign with a more objective and less impulsive mind, and she selected her advisors-and dismissed them- more carefully and less frequently than her father. Quotes *(Henry VIII speaking of the infant Elizabeth): "Who knows, Mistress Bryan? Perhaps, one day, this little girl will preside over empires."